Just to let all Critical Dance readers know that Retina are presenting the World Premiere of their new production X: at Stratford Circus on Saturday 26 January 2002. For tickets call 020 8279 1000.<P>X: explores what is real and what is manipulation. <BR>Four dancers/contestants compete for X:, surrendering to the physical and mental tasks required for success. The pressure mounts throughout the piece, becoming more absurd and frantic, challenging the perception of the witness...<P>If you go to see the show we would love to hear your feedback<P>Kyla Lucking<BR>Administrator

Thanks for the information Kyla. unfortunately I will be out of London that day, but I have three questions:<P>- how much are the tickets?<BR>- who is dancing in this one?<BR>- is there an associated tour scheduled yet and if so do you have the dates? <p>[This message has been edited by Stuart Sweeney (edited January 22, 2002).]

Retina Dance Company <BR>World Premiere of X:<BR>26 January 2002, Stratford Circus<BR>Review <P><BR>The international quartet Retina has created an abstract gameshow--brilliant yet overly thorough. You are initially intrigued by this hour of challenges but, like reading a comprehensive crime file, you eventually become desensitised.<P>X: tests the dancers' accuracy, speed, stillness, perseverance and commitment (italics). As in a game of Battleship, the contestants fling themselves upon a giant grid calling out B22, F9,…. They are equipped with both skillfully massive maneuvers and subtle humour. Filip Van Huffel (Belgium) bobs his bald head and allows Maho Ihara (Japan) to roll it round her body like a ball, then he tells us that if he wins tonight he would like to "let his hair down.” The dancers are accompanied by the all-too-recognizable voices and sounds of TV gameshows. <P>And then it stops. The dancers pose, the soundtrack cuts out, and the atmosphere turns uncomfortable. These long minutes of control and balance are visually dull. Waiting...waiting... you realise this stillness test is taking advantage of your patience. Call it DaDa or call it demanding; this bold choice doesn’t work. <P>After a bit more psychiatric and disheartening action, X: recaptures its audience. Strategic shifting, dashing, and flopping return to the focus. The game objectives become more evident. You sympathise with Nadia Sellier (New Zealand) and her epic struggle to reach the opposite side of the stage while being held back by the handsome Frenchman Gildas Diquero. <P>Despite ingenious complexity, each segment is pushed beyond its limits of duration and exposure. The movement sequences are shown from all possible angles. Transitions between segments are so fully explored they become as weighty as the segments themselves. Although skillfully created, the intrigue is sadly diluted.<P>X: proves to be a game of vigorous, witty, yet excessive dance theatre. <BR>

Review of X: in The Guardian.<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>You half expect Bruce Forsyth to wander on muttering "Cuddly toy, cuddly toy" in this witty new piece from Anglo-Belgian quartet Retina Dance. It's a case of The Generation Game meets Dog Eats Dog via Countdown and Survivor. <BR>Inspired by TV game shows, X: is a surreal world where four contestants slog it out on a chequered board in a strange game of human chess. The idea is to cross the squares to win the star prize<BR><HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><A HREF="http://www.guardian.co.uk/reviews/story/0,3604,674598,00.html" TARGET=_blank> <B> MORE </B> </A>

No prize as X: misses the spot By Ellie Carr for The Sunday Herald (Glasgow)

The premise was good. Four performers play contestants in a TV game show that never ends, competing for an unknown 'prize' in an attempt to fill the yawning gap in their lives. But somewhere along the line, Filip van Huffel's choreography for his Anglo-Belgian company Retina Dance becomes as tedious as the game shows it describes. Huffel himself is a quirky mover; his spidery limbs doodling endearingly to a soundtrack that builds a forceful repetitive groove from sampled Countdown contestants requesting those all-important vowels and consonants from Carol. And the show's design concept -- a set of four z-shaped 'hot-seats' that line the back of the stage and a grid-shaped floor pattern that acts as an outsize board game -- is full of promise.

But ultimately, X: looks like one of those shows where too much democracy spoils the choreography. It's as if everyone had 40 different ideas to contribute and Huffel didn't have the heart to leave any of them out.

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